Looking for someone who can 3D print this sign

[OldEastRR]

Only sign B style, but with longer ends. I'll paint it, no color need be added. The thing is getting the letters in bas-relief, sightly raised.  Is it possible to create such an effect in 3D? Would it even be noticeable in N scale?

[peteski]

I suspect that unless raised surface is severely exaggerated it will not be really noticeable in N scale unless viewed from extremely close distance.

I seem to recall seeing this artwork some time ago.  Did you have these printed (on paper) in the past?

[nkalanaga]

If Tichy is still using their old printer you could have them print the raised (yellow?) portions.  Their lettering looked nice, but noticeably thick, almost enough to use for N scale rivets.  A little awkward for weight data decals, and simply wouldn't lay down over rivets and other details, but sounds like just what you need.

[OldEastRR]

Yeah, it's a graphic somebody sent me a while back. But yes, probably the very slight raised letters  wouldn't be noticeable as such, so I'll rework the print graphics to make it long enough for my kitbashed store front. Which looks like this:


Needs some touch-up and fine-tuning, but I think I captured the basic look.



Does anybody 3D print store window merchandise? I sure need a bunch of it. Another item is making the awning that stretched across the whole front of the store. A STRIPED awning.

[nickelplate759]

You could make a striped awning by painting it a solid color and adding white decal stripes.

[C855B]

...unless raised surface is severely exaggerated it will not be really noticeable in N scale unless viewed from extremely close distance. ...

Hmm. I recall the lettering on these storefront signs to be ~3" thick, albeit in some sort of peaked style. That's 0.018" in N, and would be noticeable. It would be a worthy effort to reproduce in 3D. The hard part would be finding "close enough" fonts.

[peteski]

Hmm. I recall the lettering on these storefront signs to be ~3" thick, albeit in some sort of peaked style. That's 0.018" in N, and would be noticeable. It would be a worthy effort to reproduce in 3D. The hard part would be finding "close enough" fonts.

True, but the lettering from those signs could be traced into vector format. If what we see is the highest resolution image then tracing that will be difficult. Maybe ask one of the AI instances to trace it?     Or use one of the font ID websites to find a close match.

[OldEastRR]

So how much would somebody doing all this cost me? This is a front of layout building, so price isn't a factor. Besides, there's probably other N scalers out there who'd like a Woolworth sign, too.

[John]

What are the dimensions of this sign in millimeters? Or nscale feet … for what you want to do, print it on a color lasejet the size you need and mount it on styrene or card.  Not worth the effort to 3d print and then have you paint it. As far as the stuff for the windows, there are lots of pictures of storefronts on the net.   Do the same there.  Print on lasejet.   

[OldEastRR]

Sign measurement: 55 n scale feet long, 4 n scale feet high.
                                 (10.5cm)                    (3.6cm)

The graphics are at the beginning of this post. They're not the right length. Let me know all the details about doing this.

[Night Owl City]

This image uses Garamond. As far as I can tell, Woolworth signs used a W with three upper terminals, not four. Garamond evokes a Woolworth sign, but a better font to start with would be Century Schoolbook.

Almost certainly, the Woolworth sign isn't a typeface at all, and some sign-maker in 1890s Pennsylvania created the letters that Woolworth's continued to use for decades.

This post has sent me down a Woolworth rabbit hole.

[Night Owl City]

I've been staring at Woolworth's facades this afternoon. I found the former Woolworth's in Greensboro, NC, site of the famous sit-in, is now a museum. As such, I'm guessing the sign was restored accurately.

I also found this straight on picture of a Woolworth's facade from the late 1920s in Findlay, Ohio.

I traced the letters from the Findlay photo in Adobe Illustrator. It didn't take all that long since there are only 8 distinct letters and they reuse parts (like F and L). I took the vector drawing into Photoshop and added the colors based on the Greensboro sign. The three stripes on the end appear to be silver, at least on the Bakersfield Woolworths. I also simulated the depth, reflection, and shadows in Photoshop.

I am a very quiet lurker here, so I don't have enough posts to upload the file to the gallery. But here is a 10.5x0.76cm image on Google Drive. I exported it at 1200 pixels/inch. Let me know if you need it another way: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1a9A4J24-eKAKKHcYnCx51pCD2DqQRW8X/view?usp=sharing

[peteski]

Were the letters and stripes on the real signs made of shiny metal (gold and silver)?  To me that's what your artwork looks like and it is superb!
I downloaded your image and attached to the post.

 My thought however is that at the size it will be printed and at the distance it will be viewed, all that delicate color variations on the letter and stripe surfaces (when viewed on the computer screen) will be basically lost. I think in this instance simpler would be better.

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EDIT: unfortunately the forum downsamples the image to 1200 pixels across. Only way to get full size image is to go to your Google Drive link.

[Night Owl City]

You are probably right about the details not showing up. At the very least, the shadow under the letters will need to be over-emphasized even more to have any effect on a layout. I based it on the Findlay, Ohio store, but looking at OldEastRR’s building, the letters also need to be larger relative to the height of the sign.

This is what the letters look like on the store in Greensboro (not my photo):
Greensboro:  Woolworth Building by CRM02, on Flickr

[peteski]

Yes, those letters appear to be metallic with convex surfaces.  You rendering nicely depicts that.